Steve Wozniak says would consider return to Apple | Hacker News Reader

Steve Wozniak says would consider return to Apple

reuters.com

45 pointssrikar32 comments

This is a very typical Woz story. A reporter asks Woz a hypothetical question. Woz gives an honest answer. Reporter ignores the statistical insignificance of the hypothetical scenario and reports result as if it has 100% probability of happening.

This happens to many great thinkers.

Obligatory made-up scenario:

Reporter: "If you were in a plane crash in the Andes and the only food you could find was bodies of dead passengers would you eat them?"

Thinker: "Hmm.. interesting hypothetical scenario. It is of course impossible to know what anyone would do in such a situation without experiencing it, but it is obvious that the logical thing to do is to eat the bodies so you can be strong enough to seek help. Whether I personally could eat a human is not yet proven."

Reporter: "Cannibal!!!"

I've had the opportunity to meet with and talk with Woz before. The man really can't be anything but honest and he just loves talking - to anyone - about technology. He's almost the anti-Apple in that respect.

Of course there's an XKCD comic about that: http://xkcd.com/799/

"In this episode, while investigating the 75 year old wreck of a Federation transport vessel, the Starfleet starship USS Enterprise-D crew discovers the former Chief Engineer of the Constitution class starship USS Enterprise NCC-1701, Montgomery Scott (James Doohan), alive in a transporter buffer. After being cleared by Dr. Crusher, Scott is eager to see the advances in technology including a tour of the Engineering deck, but quickly finds that his old knowledge has long been surpassed and his efforts to help are instead getting in the way of normal operations..."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relics_%28Star_Trek:_The_Next_G...

I don't know about that. I think a good hacker like Woz can be very very useful for Apple. While Apple are very good at creating a perception of perfection around their products, some of their stuff is definitely not perfect, or not even very good. This is especially true of things that are no longer in the spotlight.

Somebody like Woz that knows technology, is very practical, has common sense and a good eye for usability can be incredibly useful for Apple if put in the correct position.

But it ain't gonna happen. Jobs does not want to share the Apple creation myth with anyone.

spotlight

Also true for things that are it.

Is today Star Trek day? This is the second top-ranked Star Trek reference I've seen on HN today.

And in the end, his insights were invaluable. Scotty helped save the day.

Indeed, Apple is no longer a tech company, they are now a brand like Coke and Nike.

<sarcasm> Indeed! Tablets have been around for years and suddenly there's an Apple logo on one and the fanboys act like it's some sort of technical advance.... </sarcasm>

Well, uh, tablets have been around for years. And suddenly there's an Apple logo on one, and the fanbois did act like it was amazing. What was amazing was putting phone software on a tablet instead of Windows Tablet Edition on a tablet.

So you say that it is amazing but the "fanbois" are somehow wrong in finding it amazing? I have trouble understanding that.

I'm not aware of any widespread denial of the existance of tablet PCs by "fanbois", I remember them quite enjoying mocking those tablet PCs, especially by contrasting them with the iPad. Longer battery life, thinner, lighter, no keyboard, running no desktop OS, you can get one for $500 – all those features together are a genuine innovation and they touch on both hardware and software. That doesn't mean that some or all of those individual components didn't exist in other products often long prior to the iPad.

You can't build the iPad without knowing what you do. Just look at how Apple's competitors are still struggling. If making a tablet people want to buy was just a question of taking existing technology and marketing it right there would have been credible iPad competitors much earlier.

hmm, despite the downvotes, you're right. They're really a lifestyle company - for a lifestyle that deeply embeds usable technology in all aspects of your life.

But, the actual technology is 2nd to the experience of the lifestyle.

Please stop trolling.

Who said I'm trolling? I actually think this.

You're persistently and needlessly inflammatory, which is sufficient to be considered a troll. And if you actually do think that, you're making a false dichotomy.

But really I think you just get a perverse thrill from pissing people off on occasion. Grow up.

Thanks for saying something, I see this guy's obnoxious comments all the time and he often gets upvoted for it.

Yeah, how can anyone not like Apple products!

I'm impressed to see a news article about Apple actually list Ronald Wayne as one of the original founders.

He might be the fifth Beatle in some ways, but he was there at the start.

Like Monte Davidoff at Microsoft.

Like Craig at Google.

He may not be the 5th Beatle, but here's a guy who could be the George Martin of Apple: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Markkula

Where I think Woz would be a good fit for Apple would be speaking on college campuses and indirectly recruting the best talent for Apple.

But the biggest challenge would be for him to stay on message. First time he disagreed with Jobs in public as an Apple employee it would be very awkward. For that reason alone I don't think it would ever happen.

Woz is going to be the commencement speaker on May 6th at my alma mater, Michigan State University. They're planning a livestream of his commencement address and I will post the URL on here as soon as I receive it.

>First time he disagreed with Jobs in public as an Apple employee it would be very awkward.

Yea, but the illusion that celebrities are perfect is IMO ridiculous, and dates back to what I call "legacy" PR based on controlling the message.

Woz went back once before, and at one point his manager actually gave him a bad review. Good thing it was pre-internet, or the mgr would never live it down.

Source?

The first question that came to mind: Does his early computing technical whiz still live up to today's Apple and industry standards?

In a number of ways I think Woz actually seems like an interesting fit for Microsoft, in terms of compatibility of culture and bringing values to the table that could move the business forward.

I'd be quicker to buy stock in Microsoft if Woz were signing on, than I would Apple.

I'd be quicker to buy stock in Microsoft if Woz were signing on, than I would Apple.

I'd be quicker to buy canned goods and ammunition in such a scenario, because the next thing coming over the mountain will be either zombies or Jesus.

Thank you for that. I'm not normally a fan of humorous posts on here, but that was the best laugh I've had all week!

But would Woz join the Google Android team?

Abused housewife says would consider return to husband.

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